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Large Assemblies? No sweat!!

Large Assemblies

Projects can vary in size from small to large.  On occasion, the larger projects may demand larger models in order to capture the full scope of the project.  With increasingly complex models and intricate parts with many features it will invariably have an impact on your computer performance.  It is worth noting that there are simple tricks you can use to improve performance for large assemblies.

Change the display to Shaded or Wireframe

This is one of the simplest and easiest methods, simply drop down the view bar options and select either shaded or wireframe.  This can give a boost to performance.

Set it to lightweight

When a component is set to fully resolved, all of the model data is loaded into memory.  When it is set to lightweight, only some of the model data is loaded into memory, the rest is loaded as required.  This applies to both parts and assemblies.  Consider the following gearbox assembly:

Right click on a component, in this case a part was chosen, and select component properties.

The component property box will appear where you can navigate to Suppression State and select Lightweight

In doing so the components will be set to lightweight, furthermore as a visual cue, SolidWorks modifies the part icon to include a feather to indicate that it is lightweight.

Activate Large Assembly Mode

Large assembly mode is an optimized set of system settings that will improve performance for larger assemblies.  Upon opening an assembly a dialogue box will open when SolidWorks determines that the component is a large assembly (i.e. a threshold has been reached).  You may choose to accept large assembly mode by accepting the dialogue box.  Or you may manually turn on large assembly mode by going to tools > Large assembly mode 

Applying Decals in SolidWorks

Using Decals

Solid Modeling has many stages and uses that include concept, design and final product.  Some solid models are used to convey information to a client or sometimes it is provided for marketing purposes.  In either case it is valuable to have a high fidelity model and sometimes that includes the application of Decals onto a solid body.  

Consider the following bracket:

In order to add a decal, expand the task menu and select Appearances, Scenes and Decals on the right hand side.  Browse through the decals an select the one you want.  In this case the SolidWorks decal will be applied.  Right click and select Add decal to part

The Decal property box will appear there it will provide a preview of the decal

Select a face on the part to apply the decal. 

  You’ll notice there is a triad available as well as resizing point around the perimeter of the decal.  This allows you to reposition and resize the decal to the proper size.  Once you as satisfied, select apply.

This decal has been successfully applied.  However you may notice that the background color does not match the part color.  In order to make them match, a mask needs to be applied.

Select and applying a new decal for reference.

Scrolling down the decal property box you will find the Mask Image option.  Select “Selective Color Mask” and click on the eye dropper icon.  With the eye dropper icon selected, select the color which you would like to omit from the decal. i.e. make it transparent.  In this case white is chosen.

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As a result the new decal has a mask successfully applied.  The inclusion of the mask makes the decal and model look cleaner.

Trim Tool in SolidWorks Weldments

Weldment: Trims

SolidWorks offers many tools that enable engineers to design innovative parts.  These tools range from basic feature creation, to specialized tools such as weldments.  A weldment is an object made of many parts welded together.  This can include but not limited to structural sections and plates.  The base concept of SolidWorks Weldment involves creating a base layout sketch and filling in the sketch with structural members.

 

When a structural member is applied it will most likely require trimming to fit the intended profile.  The Trim Tool is an invaluable tool to accomplish this task.  Trim has many similarities to sketch trim where it allows the user to change the end condition for each structural member.  If a member is too long or too short it may adjust it to suit.

However it is also worth noting that trim can be used in more creative ways as well.  Consider a simple fence as shown below:

The fence is fully modeled in weldments; however the pickets are placed such that they are intersecting the crossbar thereby creating interference.

We can use the Trim tool within weldments to correct this interference.  By activating Trim and setting a weld gap, the program cuts a hole into the cross bar that includes a clearance the size of the specified weld gap.

Not only can trim be used to adjust and modify structural member end conditions, but it can also create new features within a part such as a hole with clearance.

New in SolidWorks 2015- Sketching (Part 2)

New in SOLIDWORKS 2015 - SKETCHING

EQUIDISTANT POINTS AND SEGMENTS

You can create equidistant points and segments in a sketch. We will divide the line below in 5 segments using the Segment command highlighted in red box

In the Segment tool we have to select the entity that we want to divide. Then we have the option to select Sketch points or Sketch segments and the number of instances. In our case we selected the line as the entity to divide and Sketch segment option with 5 segments to divide.

As shown below the line got divided into 5 segments and we can select any one of the segment. Here the first segment is selected and so it’s highlighted in orange color.

Below is an example of using Segment command with sketch point’s option. Here we are creating 8 points on the circle’s circumference.

As shown below when the circle is selected its one complete segment with 8 points distributed equally.

MIDPOINT LINE OPTION

There is a new type of line in the Line command and it’s the Midpoint line option as shown below. You can create a line that is symmetrical from the midpoint of the line

We started the sketch line from the origin using the Midpoint line option and as shown below it’s symmetrical on both sides from the origin.